Council facing a £27m hole in its budget next year

Nick Mannion said the council is facing a £27m gap without 9.9% tax rise

Increasing council tax by almost 10% in parts of Cheshire would allow the area to "rebuild services", a council leader has said.

Cheshire East Council has asked the government for permission to increase council tax by 9.9% - 5% higher than the maximum limit allowed without a local referendum.

Nick Mannion, the Labour leader of the council, said Cheshire East had a gap of around £27m to maintain services.

The government has not yet responded to the authority's request.

Councillor Mannion told BBC Radio Stoke that the authority had some "real financial legacy issues".

"When we looked at the budget setting for the coming years, we have a gap of around £27m to maintain services."

"The basic measure is we cannot balance our budget for next year without borrowing a significant amount, which will have to be paid back, or by increasing the council tax by up to 10%," he said.

Cheshire East Council has been approved for support, via the government's Exceptional Financial Support framework, for the current and following financial years.

But that involves borrowing money that would need to be repaid.

Councillor Mannion said borrowing the money would be "kicking the can down the road".

"If we borrow £25m, the interest per year for 20 years is about £1.3m, so straightaway that's £1.3m a year less we've got to spend," he said.

Deputy leader Michael Gorman said the authority had low reserves when it was formed 15 years ago

Cheshire County Council was abolished in 2009 and replaced by two separate authorities - Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC).

Deputy leader Michael Gorman, leader of the Independent Group, agreed the authority had historic issues.

He said Cheshire East Council had very low reserves when it was created. As a result, the area was left with fewer special schools than its neighbours, costing it more to transport children to school.

He also criticised the area's business rates settlement and previous administrations decisions to not increase council tax in the area.

"We're in a position where we've got a lower council tax base than CWAC. CWAC has about £15m a year more than we have to spend," he said.

"If you've got a low council tax base and low core spending power, it's very difficult to keep up."

"We can either kick this down the road, or we can do something about it now."

The authority has faced financial issues in recent years

But the decision has not been well received by many in the area

"I think we pay enough for what they do," said one man.

"It's a big jump, it should be done in stages," said another.

Local residents described the bid for the council tax increase as "disgusting" and said they were "not very happy about it". Others said they think it needed to increase, but that there should be people who were exempt from it.

One woman asked where people who are struggling with their bills will get the additional money from.

"I've just had my hours cut at work. We're all trying to live within our means, and we've all cut out on the luxuries, so what do we cut out on now?," she said.

"Ten percent might be nothing to them, but it's an awful lot to me when gas, electric, water, food, everything is going up."

The council will be signing off its budget at a meeting in February.